Method of making tubular articles.



No. 822,285. PATENTED JUNE 5, 1906. G. W. LEE.

METHOD, OF MAKING TUBULAR AR'I TI ULES. APPLICATION FILED APB..15.1905.'

avwawboz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. LEE, OF BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, vASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTH TO FRED' L. LEE, ONE-FOURTH TO JAMES G. CLONNEY, AND ONE-FOURTH TO LESLIE E. HOOKER, OF BINGHAMTON, NEW

' YORK, AND ONE-FOURTH TO A. M OLONNEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD OF MAKING TUBULAR ARTICLES- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1906.

Apolioation filed April 16, 1906. Serial No. 265.837.

To all whom it may concern Metal Tubular Articles, of which the follow ing is a specification,

My invention relates .to a method of making metal tubular articles, and ismore particularly desi ed for the manufactureof cartridgehel s, although it is not limited thereto.

The object of my invention is to produce a cartridge-shell or other tubular article of aluminlum or other metal in a very much simpler and more expeditious manner than has ever before been ossible and the walls of which will be of un' orm thickness throughout the peri hery of the shell. By this I do not mean t at the walls are necessaril of uniform thickness throughout the length of the shell, for they may be made taperin but that they will not be thicker on one si e t than on the other.

It has been heretofore proposed to make cartrid e-shells by forcing a circular blank metal of the b into a ie by a plunger, and thereby cause the ank to fiow upwardly around the plunger. 1 have found that while this method may suffice for the production of a limited number of shells the result will eventually be that the shell-walls will not be of uniform thickness, owing to the springing or getting out of center of the plunger.

. The present invention obviates the abovenoted obj ectionin that the plunger forces the metal from beneath it into a tubular die, the

lun er being of the same diameter as the Ian and having only a short n ig'ojecting reduced portion to cup the bla and determine the inside diameter thereof.

The process will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

Figure 1 is a section of the die, showing the plunger and a blank in ositionbefore the operation commences. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the result of the operation. Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 1, showing a different kind of blank in position to be acted upon by a modified form of plunger. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a rimless cartridge-shell formed from the blank ofFig. 3.

, In the views, 10 represents the die, and 1] the hardened bushing therein.

12 represents the plunger, which in Figs. 1 and'2 hasa short cylindrical former 13 rojecting downwardly therefrom, while in igs. 3 and 4 the former 14 is tapered, as will be hereinafterdescribed. v

If the. shell is to have walls of uniform thickness, the plunger having the straight former 1,3 is used, and the blank 15 is a plain circular disk, which just fits the recess 16 in the bushing 11, as does also the plunger 12. As the plunger descends the former 13 cups the blank-that is, forces the center thereof down into the bore of the bushing. When the shoulder 17 of the plunger commences to compress the blank, it forces the metal from under it down into the bore, thereby elongating thepartially-formed tube into the form shown in Fig. 2'. The thickness of the walls of the shell so partially formed are of course determined by the diameter of the former 13, and since it is necessarily always trulycentered by reason of the plunger 12 I fitting 'exactlyin the recess 16 the thickness of the walls of the shell is necessarily uniform throughout. The result when a solid blank is used is a closed-end tube, as shown at 18 in Fig. 2, having a flange 19, the thickness of which is determined .by the distance to which the lunger 12 is driven down.

The operation illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 differs in that the result is a cartridge-shell with tapering walls and with its head alread formed on the lower end. As before state the only change in the apparatus is that the former '14 is tapered, so as to uniformly and progressively diminish the thickness of the walls of the shell during its formation. The blank shown at 20 is, however, considerably thicker than the blank 15 and has previously formed in its upper side as it is placed in the die an initial recess 21 and in its lower side the depression 22 for the. primer. The

lar est diameter of-the former 14 is substanof metal toward the center thereo of the depressed portion.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim 1s V 1. The method of making a closedend metal tube which consists in placin a circu- J lar blank in a die of e ual diameter t erewith and having a centra c lindrical bore, depressing the central portion of the blank into said bore without perforating the same and finall compressing the annular portion of the b ank in the die and obstructing the flow so as to cause the metal thereof to flow intothe Walls 2. The method of making a metal tube with walls of tapering thickness which consists in peripherally confining a circular blank in a die having a cylindrical bore, de pressing the center portion of said blank into said bore by means of a tapering former rojecting from a plunger adapted to fit sai die .and continuing the movement ofsaid plunger so as to com 'ress the annular portion of the blank and orce, the metal to flow inwardl against said tapering former and then into t walls of the depressed portion.

3. The method of making a metal-tube with walls of tapering thickness which consists in forming a taperin depression in the center of a circular blan compressing the resultant annularportion so as to force the metal thereof to flow toward the center and into the Walls of the depressed portion and simultaneously progressively diminishing the thickness of the'metal where the annular portion' joins the said walls.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of two subscribing witnesses;

GEORGE W.LEE. Witnesses:

JAMES G. CLoNNEY, MARGARET C. LEE,

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